Spike, In Love?
by tankgirl285
Summary: A meeting in a coffee shop may lead to romance for a team member.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Flashpoint or any of the characters.

Michelangelo (Spike) Scarlatti glanced over at the queue of customers who were waiting to be served at the crowded coffee shop he was in. He was absentmindly stirring his coffee but didn't know why, as he didn't take sugar so nothing needed to be mixed together. A brown haired woman of about his age caught his eye and his gaze fixed onto her. She turned feeling his look and gave him a small smile. There was just something about her, he couldn't place it but there was. After she was served she was looking for a place to sit and Spike quickly made room for her next to him and shouted her over saying "There's a seat over here if you want it." She walked over to him and put her cup down onto the table and sat down and replied "Thanks, this place must be good as I don't think I have ever been in such a busy coffee shop." Spike took a minute to place the accent and narrowed it down to two countries. He wasn't that good at accents. "Is that a Scottish or Irish accent? I'm not sure." She smiled again and his stomach did a flip flop, what on earth was happening to him, no one had ever had an effect on him like that. She replied "Scottish, I'm here for the next 5 days on holiday and then it's back to the grind." Spike laughed but his stomach was doing a backwards flip for now and couldn't say much. He hadn't felt this way talking to a female since before high school and it was making him curse himself as he wasn't the usual confident self he normally was. "Only 5 days? That seems kinda short after travelling all that way. Why not longer?" She was sipping her coffee and let out a sigh, "That's great coffee; I arrived 3 days ago but went straight to Niagara Falls." "Sorry, my name's Spike I mean Mike" again he was feeling like a 14year old talking to a crush. She smiled at him again and replied "What you don't know your own name? Which one is it?" "Mike but most of my friends call me Spike due to a hairstyle that I had years ago" "Mike then" she replied. "I don't really call people by nick names, it's just the way I was brought up and I just can't shake it off. I'm Shona by the way. Nice to meet you."

Neither noticed the time passing but after the initial introductions the conversation just flowed and continued until the owner said to Spike in Italian "I ought to start charging you rent, Mikey. It's not like you to sit down for so long" Spike looked at his watch and about 2 hrs had passed, he was surprised to see Shona also looking at her watch as if she had understood what the owner had said. He was even more surprised when she replied to the owner in Italian "Sorry, I didn't notice the time. I really need to go if I want to get some sightseeing in." Spike felt like cupid's arrow had just hit him, not only did he get on well with her, the last 2 hours had passed in a blur, but she also spoke Italian. He was happy really happy. But Shona was gathering up her things and getting ready to leave. "Don't go yet" It automatically came out in Italian as since the other 2 were speaking it, "My uncle was just joking. I think. Do you want another coffee?" he nearly somersaulted when she replied "OK but you better make it a decaf. If I have any more caffeine then I won't need a plane to fly home on." Spike jumped up to get the coffees and also a giant cookie for them to share. "You speak Italian?" "Since birth" was her reply "it is my first language as my parents only spoke Italian at home but English outside. It was their way to make sure we grew up bilingual." The conversation then continued in Italian for another hour until Spike's phone rang and noticing that it was his sister calling said "I have to get this." Shona noticed that he wasn't saying much but could make out that the woman on the other end was distressed and crying. Spike's face was becoming concerned and he quickly hung up and stood up saying "Sorry, I have to go. My nephew has been hit by a truck." Shona stood up and said "I'd better be going as well. Hope he is ok." Spike then ran out of the door only realising half way to the hospital that he hadn't got a number for her or even the name of the hotel she was staying in during 3 hours of their conversation.

Shona went back to her hotel room feeling sad, she had never clicked like that with anyone in her life and she said out loud to herself "get a grip girl, you don't do short term flings." After a quick meal in the hotel's restaurant she looked at her tourist guides trying to work out what to do the next day. She couldn't concentrate and kept thinking about Mike, the guy she had spent a very quick 3 hours with. He was good looking comfortable to talk to and obviously cared about his family by the way he had quickly left. Shona tried to think about other things but he kept creeping into her thoughts and she decided to go to the coffee shop again at the same time the next day, just in case he did the same. She felt silly; like a teen with a crush but it had been a long time since she had felt like that and decided that it was good for her to feel again. Her husband had died a year ago and she knew her life had to go on.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this has taken so long, life got in the way.

Thanks to those who have reviewed and the ones who have this as a story alert, I can't believe how many of you have done so.

Feeling kind of silly doing so Shona made her way back to the same coffee shop the next morning. Buying a decaf she made her way over to an empty table and glanced at her watch. She pulled out some tourist leaflets so she didn't feel so silly she read them and sipped her coffee. When the cup emptied he realised she had been there for over an hour and that he hadn't showed. Now feeling silly, sad and idiotic she stood up and decided what to do that day and left.

Spike was talking to Sam and was telling him to hurry up and switch the siren on to get through the traffic quicker. Sam looked at him knowing why his friend was telling him to do so, said to him "We will be too late, and anyway you're not allowed to use the siren unless on a call, you know that." Spike just glared at him and jumped out of the vehicle as it came to a stop outside of his uncle's coffee shop. He ran in covered in moss and mud, as he had been out on a call when he had really wanted to see Shona again. He looked around and sighed, she wasn't there and neither was his uncle. One of the regular customers who knew him shouted "you're too late, she left over 5minutes ago." "Thanks" was his reply as he turned round and walked back to the vehicle and climbed in. Sam said "she wasn't there, eh." Spike replied "missed her by 5 minutes, she did come you said she wouldn't." Sam who had heard all about the previous day just put the vehicle into drive and drove off.

Back at the base Spike distanced himself from the others by saying that his robot Baby Cakes needed working on and went to the workshop to do so. Sam told the others the short version of what had happened yesterday and this morning. Wordy went to talk to Spike while Ed stated "There is always tomorrow, but I don't know she is going home in a few days, what kind of relationship would that be." Jules looked at him and said "What a romantic you are." and walked off into the break room. Sam and Ed followed her in jostling each other so that they got to the coffee first. Meanwhile Greg had entered his office to find a message for him to go and see the Commander. Groaning and wondering why, he made his way to the Commanders office. Knocking on the door he could hear laughing and talking so he thought "it can't be bad surely." Upon entering he found himself looking at a brunette female somewhere in her early 30's. The commander said "Sergeant Parker this is Sergeant Martinelli from Central Scotland Police's Armed Response Unit. One of the small number of Police in Scotland who carry guns daily." Greg smiled and wondered what that was to do with him but the Commander continued "She is on vacation here and popped in to us to have a look and I thought she could spend the rest of your shift with the team, so she can get a true experience of what we are about." Sergeant Martinelli said "That is if I won't be getting in your way. I would love to see your team in action; I've been hearing good things about you and your team." "You won't be in our way, let's go so you can meet the team." Greg replied wondering how on earth he was going to entertain a visitor and do the paperwork from this morning's call out. "I think they will be in the break room, let's go there and see. Either that or some of them will be in the showers; it was quite dirty this morning." They walked down the hallway and reached the break room where a tall team member was saying "I don't know, he is in a bit of a mood. He won't talk to me." Jules noticed Greg in the doorway and said " I was just bringing you a coffee, Spike is in a mood and is oiling Baby Cakes." Greg sighed and said "I'll get him in a minute; this is Sergeant Martinelli from Scotland. The boss wants her to stay with us for the rest of the shift, something about international police relations and how we should all stick together. " Quick introductions were made and then Greg said to the Scottish Sergeant, " There is one more team member for you to meet, let's go to the workshop for you to meet him, but be prepared he is in a bit of a weird mood this morning which is not like him at all. He is normally the most upbeat guy on the team." "We all have our off days" was the reply.

Upon them walking into the workshop Spike looked up did a double glance, jumped up and hugged the Scot saying "Shona! what, why, how" He seemed to have lost the power of speech. He wasn't the only one, for once Sergeant Shona Martinelli was speechless, she eventually said "Mike, what on earth, I didn't expect to see you here. How's your nephew." Greg looked on saying nothing, there wasn't a lot he could trust himself to say right then. He then looked at both of them and said "I take it you've met?" Spike regained his mind and got his head in order to say to Greg "yes" and to Shona "He is fine, 2 broken ribs. He was lucky the truck just grazed him and it was going slow at the time." Shona smiled and said "Glad to hear that, vehicles versus child is never a good thing. As an officer I know that." Spike looked at her and then at his boss, "Officer? He said." Greg glared at him and replied "I thought you said you knew the Sergeant? Well that's what I heard a few minutes ago." Spike who himself felt like he had been hit by a truck answered "Sergeant? I met her in a coffee shop yesterday, but I didn't know she was a cop." Greg decided to do a formal introduction by saying" Sergeant, this is Officer Michelangelo Scarlatti of the SRU. Officer, this is Sergeant Shona Martinelli of Central Scotland Polices' Armed Unit." Any reply by either of them was interrupted by the siren going off and the announcement "Team 1, hot call. Gunman reported near the city hall."


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the shortness of this chapter.

Spike In Love Chapter 3

Shona watched from the back seat of the vehicle Sam was driving, Spike was in the front seat getting lay outs and positions using a laptop. Since it was a busy area and they had been there before the team knew what to do and where to go. Upon arrival at the scene, Shona initially stayed in the vehicle as to not to get in the teams way as they loaded up and deployed to various positions around the area. Greg motioned for Shona to get into the command vehicle when it arrived. Wordy had already dashed in and was getting set up, he had went over on his ankle earlier on and didn't want to push it as it was giving him some pain.

Shona watched as the software recorded everything that was said between the team and although she could hear everything that was being said it was just so different from what she was used to and said so. Greg replied "its great stuff, Spike keeps it running great; his computer skills keep him in demand." Shona's answer was "When I was first speaking to him I didn't realise he was a Police Officer, I thought he was an IT guy. He gives off that vibe not a Police one." Wordy interrupted "You're not the first to think that and probably won't be the last." He then turned round as Jules came over the system, "One in custody, he took one look at us and gave himself up. Weapon wasn't even loaded." Greg gave the order to come back to the command unit and within a few minutes the team was back, unloading their guns and removing some of their protection. Spike looked at Shona and smiled and said "Well how was it? How different is it to the way you operate?"

Their conversation was still ongoing as they entered the base. Upon seeing the Commander waiting for them all to arrive back the team and Shona stopped talking. "Good, you're all here. I'll get started" were his opening words. The team glanced at each other as Shona said "Do you want me to leave?" His reply was "no, just stay there I'll only be a minute. Since you have had 2 callouts today and you still have 2 hrs left of your shift, I've decided that you can all go home early as long as the paperwork is done."

Spike looked at Shona and asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner. Her reply was "Ok, you know the city, your choice as to where we eat." A few hours later they were walking along the harbour front and Shona said "I have to come clean, I have ..., I don't know how to say this, it sounds silly to me and I'm the one about to say it." Spike just looked at her and his look made her stomach flip flop once more. She was so attracted to him it was unreal, no one had ever made her feel this way and she said so. Adding "I have never had a fling or one night stand in my life, I have only slept with someone I was in a relationship with. It's been a while as my husband died last year and we were married for 7 yrs and together for 3 before that. But I'm so attracted to you. You're a great guy. Canadian women must be silly not to have realised that before now." Spike turned round, lifted her chin and looked her right in the eye and replied "Do you want to? We don't have to you know?" Shona's heart was thumping while she replied "I do want to, I'm just letting you know the score. Also since I'm not prone to doing this, I'm not on any contraception as there is no point when... well you know. "Spike knew right there and then that he wanted her in his life and leaned forward and gently kissed her. The kiss almost floored him; it was the best, sweetest kiss in his life. His reply when they finally broke apart was "there is a drug store not too far away; I can get some if we are doing this. I want you so much that it is unreal."

A few hours later in Spike's place they lay in each other's arms after was can only be described as a great time, Spike rolled over and said "Do you have to go home in a few days? I could kidnap you and we would be together." Shona smiled as he said it but replied "You know I do. But we have a few days yet, even if you do have to work them. Spike's answer was "Please check out of your hotel and stay here with me. You won't be spending much time there anyway." Shona's answer was to lean into him and kiss him.


	4. Chapter 4

Again a short one. There will probably be another couple of chapters.

Spike in Love Chapter 4

Shona inwardly asked herself for the millionth time "What on earth am I doing?" as she checked out of the hotel she had been staying in. After her credit card transaction was finished she turned round and said "Ok, let's go." Mike (Spike) Scarlatti picked up her suitcase and carried it to his car that was parked outside.

"Are you ok?" asked Spike, as he was driving towards his apartment. "You look a bit pale." "I'm fine" replied Shona "It's just as I've said, I've never done anything like this before." "Neither have I" said Spike smiling, "well not exactly like this. I've arranged with Ed to miss the next few days' workouts so that will mean I don't need to go into work as early until you leave. He thinks I've lost my mind, well the whole team do except Jules. She thinks it is romantic."

When they arrived back at Spike's place, Spike walked up to Shona and caressed her face and then swept her hair back behind her ear and said to her "I mean it, no one has ever had this effect on me. You are very special." They leaned closer to each other and kissed.

A couple of hours or so later Shona said "You need to know something; if my husband hadn't been killed we would have probably been divorced by now. Things weren't going so great between us."

A few days later when Shona was at the airport for her overnight flight back to Scotland a harassed looking Spike made his way to departures thinking "typical, a callout is going to stop me saying goodbye to Shona." Security let him through after he spoke to them and ran into the departure lounge just as the passengers started boarding and ran up to Shona and kissed her gently saying " I told you I'd make it. Here take this" pushing a piece of paper into her hands. "I don't want you to leave and I don't want to lose contact with you. I think I love you Shona, and I love it that you use my name and you don't call me Spike. It makes you special in another way. Common sense tells me it is too soon but my heart thinks it's not." Shona glanced at the paper and he continued "It's all my contact details, landline number, cell phone number, works phone number, my email number and my Skype details." Shona looked into his eyes, and replied "I think I love you too. You too are special. I will email you when I get in, the time difference means you will probably be sleeping when I do so." She had to board the plane as almost everyone else already had and she turned away with a tear in her eye. Spike also was trying not to cry, he was happy she loved him but sad she was leaving so soon. "I think I'm due some vacation time. I'll see about coming over to you." He said almost choking. When Shona had boarded the plane he turned round and saw Jules standing near to the door. He was shocked as he hadn't known that she had followed him. Jules just looked at him, walked over to him and said "come on, we need to return to base, paperwork doesn't wait. I'll drive." They walked back to the vehicle which incidentally was blocking a doorway and if it hadn't been a police vehicle it would have been moved. Jules then said "Is she the one?" Spike nodded as he couldn't speak and Jules continued "It's hit you hard and fast eh?" Again he just nodded and looked sadly out of the window at the passing city.

When he returned home all he could think about was Shona, her smile, her hair, her looks and her personality. He sat down and started pricing flights to Scotland.


	5. Chapter 5

Spike In Love Chapter 5

Shona sat on the aeroplane and once again looked at the piece of paper in her hand; she could not sleep even though she was tired. She was having a dose of really heavy thinking and wondering. It did say what Mike had said it did, it did have all his contact information on it, but it also had something else on it a note saying "Shona, you are a very special person; I want to continue to be a part of your life. I have only known you for a few days but it feels right, like we have been together forever which is what I want to do. I think you feel the same, what we have is special the only problem we have is that we live miles apart, that we live in different time zones but I hope that with the internet we can be together." Thinking about him and what he had written she finally got some sleep albeit a light one.

After getting her bags she started walking out of the airport, thinking about how to get home. She hadn't asked anyone to pick her up although her family and friends all knew when she was coming back, they always did, they were close. Shona jumped when a voice said to her "What planet are you on? You've walked past me twice." Shona turned round and saw her best friend Ann, they had been friends since they were 5 years old and Ann had married Shona's brother Ross so they were still close. "Sorry" Shona replied "I couldn't sleep on the plane there was too much turbulence." This wasn't exactly true she was just in a dream world with the situation with Mike, but she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Especially to someone who was family. She pretended to doze on the journey home which meant Ann was quiet but found her friend looking across at her a few times. Upon arriving home Shona threw her bags down and started flicking through the mail that had came since she had left, suddenly she heard a shriek from the other room where she had left her bags and went through and found Ann looking through the photos on the cameras screen. Ann looked at her and said "I thought I would get out your dirty clothes for you and I saw the cameras and thought I would have a quick look at your photos. Why do you have a picture of a naked man? Who is he? And seriously he has a great body" Shona grabbed the camera from her and glanced at the screen "He's not naked" she stated "he has a towel round his waist." "He's naked under the towel" was the reply. Shona then said "I'll make some coffee, this might take a while."

They both sat down in the kitchen of Shona's house and Shona told her friend about Mike "You did what?" Ann was nearly shouting at her "You moved out of the hotel and into the house of a guy you had just met? Have you lost your mind? Did you have a head injury I didn't know about? Seriously what on earth? He could have been anything?" Shona replied "What? I know it just wasn't me but I just thought to hell with it, everyone else does it why shouldn't I? Her friend was still staring at her muttering under her breath. "Any way I was just getting to the part when I met him the second time, I went to the SRU headquarters and he was there, he is a SWAT trained officer, he's a cop and I am just booting up my computer to send him an email to tell him I'm home. He wants to keep in touch and so do I" Shona then took the note out of her pocket and said "read this, he gave it to me at the airport." And Shona walked out of the room. Ann just stared at her friends retreating back and picked up the note.

Meanwhile Spike was tossing about in his bed, it was lonely there now. He was amazed that his life had changed in a few days. He got up and booted up his laptop, he was going to send Shona an email and he smiled at the memory of only a few hours ago when he had found a note lying on his table. Shona had done the same thing as him; she had left her contact details at his just as he had done with her with his note at the airport. Earlier he had priced flights to Scotland but he needed to speak with the boss and with Shona to arrange a visit to Scotland. He was due time off but the needs of the team came first and he just couldn't get time off a moment's notice. Most of the team thought he had lost his head that was made clear to him upon arriving back from the airport. He didn't care at that moment as he knew she was right for him even if it did happen fast and she lived on the other side of an ocean. When the laptop had loaded he smiled, Shona had sent him a message, and it was timed only a few moments ago. He quickly replied to her and his grin got bigger when she replied straight away. He quickly asked her to Skype him he wanted to see her again. When he looked at his screen and saw her he was happy, possibly the happiest he had been in his life. His first words were "Have you slept? It doesn't look like you have." She replied "No I haven't had time yet, my friend Ann is here still, she picked me up from the airport. She started going through my things and viewed my photos, I surprised you didn't hear her over there; she found that picture of you, the one where all you have on is a towel. I had to explain you and she isn't happy in fact she is over reacting to the situation." Just at that moment Ann walked into Shona's room, Spike saw her on his screen and decided to say hi to her. Ann jumped at hearing a male voice and quickly looked at the screen in front of her friend "Is that him? Is that the guy?" she said to Shona. "Yes, yes I am" replied Spike "Michelangelo Scarlatti at your service." Ann stated "You better not hurt her or I'll come to Toronto and track you down." She then left the room. Spike said "go talk to her, but its good she is so worried, she cares about you. I will contact you later and try and get some sleep. Family is important." Shona signed off and went after Ann, Ann was getting her bag and was about to leave "I need to tell Ross you know, I can't keep this from him. He will tell your dad and Scott and before you know what's going on the whole family will want to know what the hell's happened." Shona just replied Tell him then, if my family don't like it well then I don't care." Ann left and Shona picked up the phone to call her other brother Scott, she was closest to him and wanted to tell him the saga first before he got a distorted version from someone else.

The next day after a quick email to Shona, Spike went into work. After a few comments from some members of the team Spike turned round and told them straight "You guys are my family, but I've met someone who I care about. I know it is fast and I know the odds aren't on my side but I love her, please no more comments about flings and hook ups." He walked out of the room and knocked on Greg's door. "Boss I want some time off" were his opening words. "I want to go to Scotland."

A few hours later he was talking to Shona on the phone, "I've got time off; can I come over to see you? It doesn't matter if you are out at work I can do touristy things. What touristy things are near to you?" Shona's reply was "Yes, you can come over. I live in quite a touristy area, 3 miles east there is an old castle, 3 miles south is the birth place of Mary Queen of Scots and my town has a steam railway and it was the end of a Roman wall, so there are the remains of a fort from that time. Spike was amazed, Roman heritage on her doorstep another sign that they should be together. "Another thing" he said "Why did you tell me that you would have probably been divorced by now?" Shona sighed and said "We had been trying for a baby but nothing was happening. Paul was telling everyone that it was me, that I couldn't have children when in fact it must have been him. I had the tests he didn't, mine were fine. I wasn't infertile." Spike was livid upon hearing this "What else do I need to know about him before I come over?" he said. "He was killed driving my car" was Shona's reply "Some guy thought he could drive after downing 2 bottles of vodka. Paul was just one of the people that were killed that day, a woman and her two children were in another car that was involved. The thing is the guy lived, Ok he lost an arm and both of his legs abut he is still living. Life isn't fair. I found out when my uncle called me to his office, he is head of the traffic unit here, he told me that an officer had call him after recognising my car in the pile up. At first they thought it was me until they checked my rota and noticed that I was on duty." Spike sighed and said "I've just booked flights, I'm arriving in 2 weeks time and staying for 2 weeks, that is if that is ok with you?" Shona's answer was "Ok see you then, keep Skyping and phoning I miss you and your accent."


	6. Chapter 6

Spike in Love chapter 6

After 2 weeks of phoning, texting and Skyping, Shona stood at Glasgow airport waiting for Mike to come through immigration, his plane had landed a little while ago and Shona for some reason was nervous. She had no reason to be as she had only spoken to Mike before he got on the plane. She caught sight of him at the same time he saw her, Mike ran towards her and dropped his suitcase at her feet, lifted her up, spun her around and kissed her passionately. When he put her down Shona looked at him and said "Welcome to Scotland, the car is this way and it will be about an hour until we reach my place. Did you sleep on the plane?" "A little" was the reply, "a guy 2 rows front of me has a snore like a jackhammer, I don't think anyone got much sleep. Anyway I don't need to sleep, I have you with me."

An hour or so later Shona turned into her driveway and Mike looked at her home. "Wow" he said, "Was it really built in 1905?" looking at the building."Yep" was Shona's reply, most of the houses in this street were built around then and in those days they built them to last." Mike climbed out of the car and stood staring at the cottage he then turned round and looked the way the house faced. "What is that" he said "It's called a view" replied Shona "It's a river and some mountains behind them." Mike turned and looked at her "Ok" he said "How much do cops here get paid? You drive a Mercedes and live in a Victorian built cottage with a view people would kill for." Shona hugged him and said "Let's go inside, I have something to tell you." When both of them had a coffee in their hands Mike said "Ok, what is it? This place must be worth a packet, it has 4 bedrooms and a view that goes for miles." Shona sat down saying "Ok, 4 months after Paul died I hit the jackpot, literally. I won £13 million pounds on the lottery. I bought this place and the car; I gave my parents, brothers, friends and other family members' money but I still have most of it. You would be amazed at how much interest that amount of money generates." Spike looked at her in amazement, "Why are you still a cop then? Why do you put yourself at risk everyday if you have that sort of money?" He was still looking a bit shell-shocked at her statement. "Wouldn't you?" was her answer "It isn't a job it is a calling and anyway what would I do all day? All my friends and family would be a work." Spike leaned forward and absentmindedly ate a chocolate biscuit which Shona had placed on the table when she had served the coffee. Shona looked at him and sighed "Are you ok?" she asked, he was still a bit pale and not his usual self "Do you want to go to sleep? You must have been up for ages and you look tired." Spike eventually replied "Really, you are worth millions? Seriously? No I don't want to lie down. Can we go out for a walk or something? I need to stretch my legs. I normally work out for 2 hours a day, I need my exercise." Shona opened her fridge grabbed 2 bottles of water from it, turned round and put them into a small backpack. "Ok, how far do you want to go? The Roman fort remains are a couple of miles west; do you want to go there? You did say you wanted to see them and visit the museum next to it. Sorry I didn't tell you about the money but it shouldn't matter, are you angry at me? You haven't said much." Spike stood up and put his arms around her and said "I'm not angry, I'm just stunned and ok, I agree with you about staying a cop, you aren't the type to shop and lunch all day, that's why I like you. The Roman fort sounds great; if we walk there and back my legs will be fine."

On the way back from the fort remains Shona said "You didn't see it but I turned one of the back rooms into a gym, it has all the equipment and you can use it. By the way my dad and brothers are planning on taking you out tomorrow, they think I've lost my mind and they want to spend time with you to see if I have." Spike looked at her and silently groaned "What will you be doing?" he asked. "I'm working tomorrow, I'll have time to introduce you to each other but then I'll have to head off. They won't tell me what you will be doing but it shouldn't be bad, they are all police officers." "What, all of them?" Spike answered sounding shocked. "Yep, every one of them is a serving police officer. I think you will charm them all. After all you do charm me every time I look at you."

The next morning Shona opened her door upon hearing her dad's car pulling into the driveway. Her uncle parked his car on the road outside and the drivers and their passengers all walked to meet Shona. Spike was standing behind her gulping a little, ha hadn't expected that many men in Shona's family all at one time. "Everyone this is Michelangelo Scarlatti, known as Mike." Spike stepped forward, Shona gestured at one of the older men "Mike, this is Chief Superintendant Carlo Martinelli of the Lothian and Borders Police force, he's my dad." Gesturing to the other older man she continued "my uncle Mario Martinelli, who is a Chief Inspector with Central Scotland Police force" Gesturing to the others she continued "my brothers Scott and Ross, both of whom are Sergeants, Scott with Central and Ross with Lothian and Borders and my cousins Antonio and Dario who are Sergeants with Fife Constabulary." Spike who was still looking shocked shook hands with them all and said "Hello, I'm Mike. Nice to meet you, I hear we are spending the day together. Wow, lots of cops in the family then, I'm feeling a bit lowly I'm just a Constable." Shona's dad Carlo stepped forward and replied "It doesn't matter; I looked into the SRU and from what I understand most of you are Constables but in my opinion you should all have a higher rank. Let's go, you are in my car with Scott and Ross and the others will be travelling in Mario's." Switching to Italian he continued "Shona said you speak Italian, that's fine we normally switch between the languages when we are talking, it confuses people who can overhear us." Spike replied in Italian "I sure do, let's get going so Shona can get to work." He turned round and kissed Shona on the cheek and walked out to the waiting car. Carlo followed saying to Spike "Get in the front passenger seat, that way I can talk to you better. Shona really likes you and I want to know why."


	7. Chapter 7

Spike In Love chapter 7

When Shona arrived home from work that night she saw Spike sleeping on the sofa. She smiled at the sight and he turned over and opened his eyes upon seeing her he looked at his watch and said jokingly "What time do you call this? I've been here for hours." "How was your day?" she asked "I've heard my dad's version, he phoned me after he dropped you off back here." "Your family is great, just like you." He stated and continued "first they took me to skid pan driving, then since we were good at it we got to drive round a race track in a Porsche. Then we went to a five-a-side football place and spent time there playing. You're dad and his brother are fit for old guys. Shona laughed at this and said"don't let them hear you call them old; to them they are still 20." Spike continued "during a break for food we got talking about football, the fact that I know all the stats about Juventus went down well. Then your dad phoned your mom and we ended up there for ages and then he brought me back here. They are a great family you're lucky." "Sometimes it feels great other times it can be a bit oppressive, I'm the only female in an Italian family. The guys can be a bit overbearing at times" replied Shona. "One good thing though, they all seem to like you, my mum and dad included. A visit to my mum wasn't planned for today but since my dad thought you are so great he decided to let my mum meet you as well.

A few days later Shona had a day off. She said to Spike the evening before "tomorrow we are going to do some Loch Ness Monster hunting it takes a while to get there so we have to have an early start." Spike answered "what! Do you really believe in that thing?" to which Shona replied "well even if you don't see her, the views on the journey and up near Inverness are worth the trip." The next morning they set off early Shona drove as although she had insured Spike to drive it she stated "I have done this journey before and have seen the views, I have also seen the crashes that have been caused by drivers not familiar with the road and being distracted by some of the views. The road up to Inverness is one of the busiest and most notorious in Scotland, I don't think that a day goes by without at least one accident and a road closure." During the journey Spike stated "I don't think that I have been able to see this far in my life, you can see for miles and there are no buildings to get in the way." "That's why I love Scotland although there must be parts of Canada where you can see as far. It is a massive country but most people live in small areas compared to the overall mass of the place." Spike conceded that she had a point and vowed to spend some time travelling round his own country. Shona continued "Some of the views in Italy are great as well. Have you actually been there?" Spike conceded that he had not but had looked on the internet and had seen photographs of Italy."

They continued to drive and upon reaching Inverness came off of the main route north and turned down the road leading to Loch Ness. About half way down the loch Shona stopped at car park for boat tours on the loch, they bought tickets and went on. Again Spike was amazed and Shona took some pictures of him. Spike laughed when she showed him the camera's screen behind him in the picture was Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. He turned round and looked at the windows of the boat and said "Great idea, putting transfers of the monster on the window so that it looks like the monster is behind you in your picture." After the boat trip was over Shona drove back into Inverness so they could get a meal. While they were walking down a street Spike was surprised when a passing police car pulled a u-turn and pulled in beside them. The driver got out and greeted Shona with "I haven't seen you in ages. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Shona answered by introducing Spike and stating that it was a day out to show a tourist Scotland. Spike asked "How do you know each other?" Shona explained that Scotland had 8 Police Forces but only one Police College and that all of the forces combined training to save money so at any point during a course that most if not all of the forces had officers there and that since people kept meeting on courses they could possibly go anywhere in Scotland and bump into someone they had once been on a course with. Spike was amazed at this and said so.

Hours later upon reaching Shona's house they stumbled in, Shona tired from all the driving and Spike was looking pensive and brooding "Did you not enjoy the day then?" Shona asked when she saw his face "You look like you didn't." Spike reached out and hugged her close "I had a great day, that's the problem. Spending time with you is all I can think about but I'm back at work half way across the world in a few days and I will miss being with you. It's great here as well, it's so quiet and everyone seems to know everyone else even if you travel hundreds of miles in a day." Shona laughed at the last statement "Scotland's not that small but I will admit the law enforcement is. We do all know each other or if you don't actually know the person you are talking to both of us will know someone in common. I will miss you too, but we still have a few days together, although I do have to work them."

A few days later Shona came home and found Spike reading some paperwork, she glanced at him and asked him why he had an application form for an Italian passport. His answer was that he had spent the day in Edinburgh at both the Canadian consulate and at the Italian consulate, and that it would be hard for him to move to Scotland as a Canadian but since both of his parents had been born in Italy that he was entitled to Italian citizenship and that as an Italian he could live and work in Scotland legally. He also said that he had enquired about Shona moving to Canada and that he was told that it would take a while even if she filled the requirements. Shona was moved by this, knowing that although they hadn't known each other that long that he was making plans for them to be together. She then said "there is another way at the moment, as a British citizen I can be in Canada for up to six months at a time if I have enough money to support me during this time and believe me I have enough money to support myself for more than six months. Also I also believe that my money alone could get me into Canada to live, I am what immigration officials call independently wealthy, they always like people with money entering and living there as they bring their money with them. I would need to check on that but at the moment the six months holiday to spend time with you sounds good." Mike was amazed at this and said to her "But what about your work? Your career?" Shona's answer was "I could take a six month leave of absence, I can afford to do so most people can't. Also they are talking about redundancies; all the Police Forces are under review as they are all getting merged into one large Scottish force and again I can afford to leave others aren't in a position to do so and rely on their salary to keep them and their families. I was planning on seeing about a leave of absence tomorrow anyway, so I will definitely do so now. It might take a while for it to be approved but I think it will be and then I can come to Canada for just under six months." Spikes answer to her was to lean down and kiss her gently, "Please do so; I want you in my life. I love you."


	8. Chapter 8

Spike In love Chapter8

A few days later Spike returned home to Toronto and was back with team one a few days later. While he was happy to be back doing something useful he was a bit depressed because he was away from Shona. The others noticed this and tried to help in their own ways which were not that successful. Spike's mind was everywhere and half of the time he couldn't concentrate luckily it didn't have any serious repercussions for the team but eventually Greg and Ed had to take him aside and have a serious talk to him. By Skyping Shona most days he soon got happier as her 6 month leave of absence was approved and would start in a few weeks. Shona booked her flights but the way it worked out she was only allowed 5 months in Canada, both of them agreed this was better than nothing.

On the day of her going to Canada, her brother Scott took her to the airport and reminded her that she did not have to stay in Canada for the full time if she thought things weren't going to great, Shona just hugged her brother when he said this as both herself and Scott knew she would be there for the full time. Spike met Shona at Toronto airport and said to her "I know you will be tired, I was flying back from Scotland, so I've not arranged anything for you today. Tomorrow though the team is having a BBQ and you are expected to be there. You will meet everyone again and their families, don't worry they don't bite." The next day Shona once again met team one and for the first time met their families. She got on great with Sophie and Shelley and all the girls liked her too. She even earned extra points by being able to soothe Isabella who was having trouble settling down due to teething pain.

Shona and Spike soon settled into a routine with Shona occasionally looking after Isabella to let Sophie work but even she enjoyed this and being with Spike, Shona was getting down due to the fact she had nothing to do most days as she couldn't work as officially she was on holiday. She saw all the sights she had missed first time round and enjoyed nights out with Spike, Jules and Sam but her life has a big gaping hole in it. Shona had never had this much time on her hands and it didn't settle well with her. She could shop everyday if she wished but didn't see the point of spending money just for the sake of keeping busy. Shona had spent that much time in the local movie theatre that she was on first name terms with some of the day staff and Spike was concerned for Shona as he had been ultra busy with the team and with his shifts and training spent a long time away from her. Wordy and Ed tried to help by saying that is life in the force you never see your family but when you do the time is extra special but agreed that their wives' were working most of the time as well and weren't sitting around most of the day.

While watching Shona sleep on night Spike came to a decision about his life, he knew he wanted Shona in it but knew that for Shona to move to Canada and get a job wouldn't be easy as Shona's entire working career was in the Police and that she couldn't get a Police job in Canada but he on the other hand was a police officer and a nerd he could get a job in Scotland with his IT skills. He slowly slid out of the bed so he didn't disturb Shona and went into another room and booted up his laptop. He quickly browsed the Scottish IT jobs market and realise it would really be that easy for him either. Even though his Italian citizenship had come through and he could legally work in Scotland there wasn't many jobs over there that he could do. He brought up the subject at breakfast and the pair had a serious talk about the situation and all of the solutions. What it came down to was Shona move to Canada using her financial situation to gain entry, with Spike working as usual. Spike moving to Scotland and find a job while Shona worked or totally start afresh in Italy where both would need to find jobs and somewhere to live. While the Italy option was appealing both agreed it wasn't really practical. Shona suggested that Spike could also look at translating jobs as people who could speak more than one language were sought after due to the number of people who moved around Europe either on holiday or to live. Spike conceded that it was a feasible option as he was fluent in English, Italian and French as his parents had sent him to a French speaking Catholic school, although his French would need to be brushed up on as he didn't use it much in everyday life. As Spike had the day off they went out to lunch and discussed it more. Neither could make a final decision and joked that it should be decided on by the toss of a coin.

The whole situation laid heavily on both of them and although Shona had spoken to immigration and had started the ball rolling by applying for a visa to live and work in Canada both knew that a final decision had to be made soon. Shona's five months in Canada were coming to an end in a few weeks. Two weeks before Shona was due to leave Spike and Shona were lying on the couch watching TV when Spike suddenly said "Can I have the honour of being your husband? I love you and want you in my life forever." Shona's reply was "Yes, you may have the honour of being my husband. I love you too and I want you in my life forever." The next morning while Shona was in his arms Spike said "I've made up my mind, I'm moving to Scotland to be with you. I love it there, it is full of history and you're family made me feel welcome. I've also spoken to a few companies and one of them has offered me a job as they have offices in both Scotland and Italy and need people like me who speak both languages." Shona just looked amazes and said "You've got a job lined up? When do you start? Where is it? What will you be doing?" Spike just laughed and kissed her gently replying "Yes, I have a job. I can start whenever I want and it is in Edinburgh city centre and that is only a bus or train ride away from yours. I will be in IT and will have to deal with IT problems that arise in both Italy and Scotland." Spike continued "the only problem that I can see now is, where do we get married? Here or there?" Shona pondered that for a moment and said "here, we get married here if allowed; I can afford to fly my family and friends out here, all of your family and friends wouldn't be able to afford to fly to Scotland for a wedding." Spikes answer was "let's speak to the authorities in the morning to see if we can and go from there." The next morning they went to the immigration office and had a surprise, Shona's visa application had been approved, she could move to Canada at any time. This meant that they could get married with no problems.

Shona suddenly found herself very busy; she had to arrange more time off and the wedding. Neither of them wanted a massive event so it was only going to be close family and friends. Even so it still came to a decent number of people, Shona's close family, Spike's close family and most of the SRU. Spike had put in his resignation but had still to work for a few months so that a replacement could be trained.

Shona's family had flown out and were staying in hotels and the big day arrived. Shona wore an ivory dress, nothing too fancy as it wasn't her thing. Spike on the other hand surprised Shona by wearing full highland dress; she had expected him to wear a suit. The kilt was made out of the Italian tartan, one of the new tartans that had been invented by a second generation Scot with Italian ancestry. The colours were that of the Scottish and Italian flags. Shona's friend and sister in law was her maid of honour and Wordy's girls were little bridesmaids. They felt like little princesses and carried out their duties perfectly. After the "I do's" the party really started, many couldn't remember much the next day. Five days after the ceremony Mr and Mrs Scarlatti flew to Scotland to start their life together.


End file.
